MALACAÑANG has asked for proof from Vice President Leni Robredo following her criticism of what she described as President Rodrigo Duterte’s “murderous regime.”
Robredo on Monday said the death of the nine community organizers in separate operations in their homes in the Calabarzon region the day before was a “massacre,” just two days days after Duterte ordered troops to kill rebels and “ignore human rights.”
Filipinos “deserve better than this murderous regime,” she said.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque noted police had claimed there was a threat to their lives in the raid against the activists, and that an investigation was underway.
“If the Vice President personally saw what happened, she should give evidence because she’s talking as if she saw that killing with her own eyes,” Roque told a news briefing.
He added: “If she doesn’t give evidence, that’s also a sin, and she can face charges. If she is an eye witness, go, give evidence. But if she didn’t see what happened, like the President and the Filipino public, wait for the result of the investigation.”
The National Bureau of Investigation will look into police implementation of search warrants, said Justice Undersecretary Adrian Sugay.
“We just noticed that recently, when there were search warrants, sometimes bad incidents happened. There were arrests, or like what happened on Sunday, there were people who died, were killed,” he said in the same briefing.
Roque said no probe was being “conducted only for public opinion.”
Meanwhile, human rights lawyer and former Vice President Jejomar Binay condemned the Philippine National Police in the “Bloody Sunday” operations.
“We should all be alarmed and concerned by (the) series of arrests conducted by the PNP, which has been dubbed as ‘Bloody Sunday,’” he said in a statement.
There are set procedures for serving warrants but these were not followed by the police, said Binay, citing witnesses accounts.
“There are rules of engagement, but like many other instances, these were reportedly not observed by the police. And I am almost certain that the police would justify the killings by insisting that the victims fought back,” Binay said.
The Commission on Human Rights said that while it “condemns the use of arms and violence to overthrow a government, human rights must be respected at all times” and “crimes must be punished under the guidance of the rule of law and due process.”
“Words matter and such words can embolden some to act with abuse and impunity,” CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia said of Duterte’s remarks.
She reminded the government that “with its primary obligation to respect, protect, and fulfill the rights of everyone,” it “cannot be the first one to violate them.”
Among those killed was a coordinator of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, a left-wing group that has called for an end to “red-tagging,” the practice of labelling opponents, communists or terrorists to justify targeting them.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, in a statement, denounced the use of what it called unnecessary force and violence during “Bloody Sunday.”
Human Rights Watch said the government’s counter-insurgency campaign no longer makes a distinction between armed rebels and non-combatant activists, labor leaders, and rights defenders.
On Sunday, Lt. Gen. General Antonio Parlade, head of an anti-rebel task force, told Reuters the raids were “legitimate law enforcement operations,” and authorities had search warrants for firearms and explosives.
Meanwhile, PNP spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Ildebrandi Usana said in a press statement the “allegations of “nanlaban” and “planted evidence” were “baseless and unfounded (and) only serve to undermine the wisdom of the courts and the legitimacy of police operations.”
He said the charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives were sufficiently supported by evidence which served as the basis for the issuance of search warrants and not on mere membership or affiliation with any organization.
“Our police operatives were briefed to exert all possible means to peacefully serve the search warrants. They are, however, trained to defend themselves against any unlawful aggression,” he added.
Usana said the PNP Internal Affairs Service will conduct a motu proprio investigation over the conduct of the police operations.
The said search warrant served in Rosario, Cavite was issued by Vice Executive Judge Jose Lorenzo Dela Rosa of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 4.
In Brgy. Calayo, Nasugbu, Batangas, police and military troops forcibly entered and raided the home of Ana Marie Lemita-Evangelista and Ariel Evangelista, leaders of fisherfolk group Ugnayan ng Mamamayan Laban sa Pagwawasak ng Kalikasan at Kalupaan, around 4 a.m. after they raided the neighboring house of Lemita-Evanglista’s father, Mandy Lemita.
During the raid, their neighbors in the barangay heard gunshots and screams pleading for mercy, and after the raid, their neighbors and relatives found the couple’s 10-year-old son, who witnessed the killings, hiding under a bed in the house.
The search warrant was issued by Manila RTC Branch 174 Presiding Judge Jason Zapanta.
Melvin Dasigao of urban poor group Sikkad Montalban and youth organizer Mark Lee Coros Bacasno were also killed in raids in Montalban, Rizal, which started at around 5 a.m. with two dump trucks full of soldiers and police from Cavite conducting the operations.
Dasigao was pinned to the floor of his home while his wife and two children were brought outside. Minutes after, three shots were heard from the house. Bacasno’s home was raided almost at the same time as the raid on Dasigao’s home, and he was shot at least seven times.
Local government officials reportedly arrived at the places of incidents after the operations.
Meanwhile, four individuals have been confirmed to have been arrested.
Labor leader Esteban Mendoza, vice president of Olalia – Kilusang Mayo Uno, as well as BAYAN – Laguna spokesperson Elizabeth Camoral were arrested in separate police raids in Cabuyao, Laguna through search warrants issued by Vice Executive Judge Jose Lorenzo Dela Rosa of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 4, who also issued one of the search warrants in the police raids that led to the massacre and mass arrests of Tumandok leaders in Panay last December.
Nimfa Lanzanas, 61, a Karapatan paralegal to political prisoners and member of Kapatid – Timog Katagalugan, was also arrested in a raid in Calamba, Laguna based on false allegations that three guns and a grenade were in her belongings inside their home, where Lanzanas’s granchildren ages 6, 9, and 11 were sleeping beside her. Police raided Lanzanas’s home at around 4:45 a.m. She is currently detained at Camp Vicente Lim.
Eugene Eugenio, a member of the Rizal chapter of the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees, was alsoarrested in Antipolo City.
Antipolo RTC Executive Judge Miguel Asuncion issued the search warrant against Eugenio resulting in his arrest on trumped up charges of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. He is currently detained at the Antipolo Police Station.
